ARTICLES ABOUT PRIVATE SECTOR BY DATE - PAGE 3

NEW DELHI: Government needs to treat private sector defence companies at par with with state-owned firms to boost defence manufacturing in the country, a top official today said. "We need to break away from the monopoly of the (defence sector) PSUs and need to look at private sector companies and say these our national champions...private sector and PSUs should be treated at par," Secretary in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) Amitabh Kant said. He was speaking at a function on "Make in India' organised by University of Chicago Center in Delhi.

In a chat with ET Now, R Shankar Raman, Whole-time Director & Chief Financial Officer, L&T, shares his business outlook as well as his views on the Budget. Excerpts: ET Now: Now that you have had about a day-and-a-half to digest, what have you made of the Union Budget and the capex plans that have been announced? R Shankar Raman: The directions have been generally on predictable lines. The headlines in terms of growth in investments and the sectors which will propel that growth are well-identified.

By Saumitra Chaudhuri , Former Member, Planning Commission What in this Budget has a chance to improve the investment climate and, thereby, boost growth, employment and general well-being? Governments can, at best, play a facilitating or incentivising role. Or, if one were to see it from the other side, a greater or less obstructive and disincentivising role. At the end of the day, it is the individual citizen—entrepreneurs small, medium and big—whose efforts and initiatives impel an economy forward.

NEW DELHI: Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu today said that he is open to the idea of setting up a dispute redressal mechanism to facilitate the entry of private industry into the sector. "Private sector wants to come in then they must have a clarity. I think obviously there are going to be disputes. When you marry, no body wants to get divorced but if at all you wanted to, then there must be a system by which you can get divorce. "Therefore a dispute redressal system ... a system whereby you resolve it before you get divorce, Something has to be put in place.

Liberalising foreign direct investment policy in retail and encouraging private players to compete with established markets for farm produce will help in getting huge investment and infrastructure needed to improve and unify agricultural markets in the country, the Economic Survey has said. The first step for the Centre could be to persuade states to remove fruits and vegetables from the Agricultural Produce Marketing Act (APMC), which requires farmers to sell their produce to designated markets.

MUMBAI: End the banking practices of the socialist era by slashing the mandatory holding of government bonds, reducing directed lending to the so called 'priority sector', and even sell off some poorly managed state-run banks, said the Economic Survey . Revival of the state-run banking system should be on a case-to-case basis instead of a 'one-size-fits-all' approach and the banks should be using the profits from rising bond prices to provide...

NEW DELHI: Unfavourable market conditions and delayed investments in last few years resulted into an "alarmingly high rate" of increase in stalled projects which, as of December-end, stood at a staggering Rs 8.8 lakh crore, says the Economic Survey for 2014-15. However, the stock of stalled projects plateaued in last three quarters to stand at 7 per cent of the GDP at the end of October-December quarter from 8.3 per cent in last year, the Survey said. "... manufacturing dominates in total value of stalled projects even over infrastructure.

NEW DELHI: Restructuring of PPP framework in infrastructure sector would help revive financially stressed projects and attract private investment, the Economic Survey said. Many infrastructure projects are today financially stressed, accounting for almost a third of stressed assets in banks. New projects cannot attract sponsors, as in recent NHAI bids, and banks are unwilling to lend. "Given its riskiness, pension and insurance funds have sensibly limited their exposure to these projects.

NEW DELHI: Private companies such as ITC , Cargill and Adani have suggested to the Food Corporation of India to invest in new technology for procurement, storage and movement of grains in north eastern states. The companies feel that the government should come out with a clear policy defining the role of private sector to start working in the states. "We can work as an agent of FCI without compromising on the minimum support price (MSP) to farmers," said Sanjay Kaul, MD and CEO, National Collateral Management Services Ltd. Kaul feels that farmers should either be paid by cheques or online transfers for their grains.